5 Strategic Insights to Utilize From Your Core Technology Today

Data is one of the most valuable assets your credit union possesses, and the core processor is a goldmine of information. However, many credit unions are not fully leveraging this resource. Here are five practical ways to utilize your core processor data to drive better performance and member satisfaction.

5 Ways to Utilize Your Core Data

1. Personalize Member Experiences

By analyzing transaction histories and interaction logs from your core processor, you can gain insights into member preferences and behaviors. This data typically comes from various sources within the core system, such as:

• Account Transactions
• Service Usage Logs
• Product Enrollment Data

Use data from your core processor to segment your members based on their financial behaviors and needs. Analyzing where and how members spend their money can highlight their financial habits and preferences. Understanding a member’s borrowing and repayment behavior can help you tailor loan products to their needs.

Offer tailored products and services based on member segments, such as mortgage loans for those with rental payments and savings patterns, or investment products for those with financial goals.

2. Enhance Marketing Efforts

Core processor data can significantly improve your marketing efforts. By analyzing member demographics and transaction patterns from your core system, you can develop highly targeted marketing campaigns. This data typically includes:

• Demographic Information: Age, gender, location, employment status, and other personal details.
• Transaction Patterns: Detailed records of deposits, withdrawals, transfers, bill payments, and other financial activities.
• Product and Service Usage: Information on the financial products and services members currently use or have shown interest in, such as checking accounts, loans, credit cards, and online banking services.

For example, if transaction data indicates that a segment of your members frequently makes large purchases, you can target them with promotional offers for credit cards with higher credit limits or cashback rewards. 

By extracting and analyzing this data, you can create marketing campaigns that are highly relevant to each member's needs and preferences.

3. Improve Operational Efficiency

Identify inefficiencies in your operations by analyzing workflow data from your core processor. This data can include loan processing times and service interaction logs. 

By analyzing this data, you can...

• Pinpoint bottlenecks in processes like loan approvals
• Identify repetitive tasks that can be automated
• Optimize resource allocation

Understanding these patterns allows you to ensure adequate staffing during peak periods, improving service levels and member satisfaction. For example, if data shows a high volume of branch visits on Friday afternoons, you can schedule additional staff to handle the increased demand.

4. Strengthen Risk Management

Leverage transaction data from your core processor to detect unusual patterns that may indicate fraudulent activities. This data can include:

• Transaction Amounts and Frequencies: Monitor for transactions that deviate from a member's usual spending patterns.
• Geographic Locations: Track the locations where transactions are made to identify suspicious activity, such as a member's card being used in multiple countries simultaneously.

Implement real-time monitoring systems that alert you to potential fraud, allowing for quick response and mitigation. For example, if a member's account shows a sudden flurry of high-value transactions, your system can flag this for immediate review.

5. Drive Strategic Decision Making

By utilizing data from your core, you can analyze market trends and guide product development. Use data insights from your core processor to guide product development. This data can include:

• Member Feedback: Collect and analyze feedback from member surveys and service interaction logs.
• Usage Patterns: Track how members use existing products and services, such as savings accounts, loans, and online banking features.
• Member Preferences: Monitor changes in member preferences for financial products and services.
• Financial Behavior Trends: Analyze trends in how members are saving, spending, and investing their money.

By identifying gaps in your current offerings and what your members really want, you can develop new products that meet the evolving needs of your members. 

Unlock Your Data With FLEX Core Technology

Looking to modernize your core technology? Switch to FLEX to access data that can help your credit union grow. By personalizing experiences, enhancing marketing efforts, improving operational efficiency, strengthening risk management, and driving strategic decision making, you can unlock significant value and achieve better performance with FLEX. Start exploring how these four credit unions switched to FLEX to stay competitive in the credit union industry.